The main issue in this research is how members of nuclear families, as such, decide upon and pursue goals. It emphasizes the role of culture as a resource and as a constraint in goal-oriented processes with particular attention to the use and influence of ideal conceptions and existential views of the nature of the nuclear family; the statuses that make up that family; and the expectations and organization of relations among family members. A crucial part of the study's methodology stresses intensive work with a small number of nuclear families in each society using participant-observation, unstructured interviewing, and the collection of extended cases or "social dramas." Another crucial method depends upon the use of scheduled interviews designed to yield quantifiable results. The empirical data for this research will be gathered in six societies: Demonte, Italy; Seville, Spain; Kahl, Germany; Santa Isabel, Solomons; Mombasa, Kenya; and San Diego, California. The project aims at contributing empirically and theoretically to the understanding of nuclear family dynamics, of goal-oriented processes in small groups, and of the role of culture as an influence and resource in human behavior.